County Farm Bureaus honored for outstanding local programming

Columbus, Ohio — Carroll, Paulding, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties have received Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s (OFBF) top honor for their outstanding local programming. They received the President’s Award, which goes to counties with the greatest accomplishments in member strength, member advocacy and member engagement.

Ohio Farm Bureau counties competed for the President’s Award and others as part of the County Farm Bureau Awards program. Winners were announced during OFBF’s 96th annual meeting Dec. 10-12 in Columbus.

The county Farm Bureaus competed in four divisions based on membership size. Volunteer Farm Bureau members and staff did the judging. The first level of awards was Achievement, and 86 of 87 county Farm Bureaus applied for and received this award. The second level was Excellence with the top three county Farm Bureaus in each membership division category receiving either gold, silver or bronze.

The top award was the President’s Award and to be eligible for it, county Farm Bureaus had to have gain in both farmer and overall membership. For the Excellence Awards, counties had to have either farmer gain or overall gain in membership. Counties could submit a second program or event in one of the three categories, and some counties won two awards in the same category.

Collaborative Awards were presented to counties that excelled in programming done in cooperation with other county Farm Bureaus. This year Collaborative Awards were awarded to Carroll, Cuyahoga, Harrison, Jefferson and Tuscarawas counties for their “Farmtastic Agventures Google Hangouts.” This program, which had students interact with agriculture experts from their working environment through a live video and audio session, also received American Farm Bureau Federation’s County Activities of Excellence Award.

Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Logan, Mercer, Shelby and Union counties worked together to purchase a fiberglass milking cow for their “Life of a Cow” program. Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson and Tuscarawas counties were recognized for “Straight from the Heart,” a women’s wellness program in Amish country.

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation is a member of American Farm Bureau Federation®, a national organization of farmers and ranchers including Farm Bureau® organizations in 49 other states and Puerto Rico, and is responsible for Farm Bureau membership and programs within the State of Ohio. Ohio Farm Bureau Federation programs and services are available only to Farm Bureau members within Ohio. The political views expressed in these pages represent Ohio Farm Bureau Federation's positions on various issues as they relate to Ohio. The positions of the national Farm Bureau organization collectively are expressed through American Farm Bureau Federation. Any opinions, statements or views expressed through comments or by outside contributors are the express views of those individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.